Harris Chain Bassmasters
The Harris Chain Bassmasters is a bass fishing club affiliated with the FLW, TBF, and the Florida Bass Federation. We are located in Eustis Florida, and conduct monthly meetings at the VFW Hall in Mt Dora Florida on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00PM. Points are awarded for meetings, special functions, and tournaments, and are used to determine our angler of the year at the year end. We fish 12 tournaments a year, and hold an end of the year classic on the Harris Chain in December. Membership is $45.00/year, and potential new memebers must attend 1 meeting and fish 1 tournament before they can be voted on for membership. For more information, contact Bob Wood at (352) 343-4577. Email: ocbez2@comcast.net
The LAW! from the FWC!!!
We invited Tom Hicks from the Florida Wildlife Commision to give us the straight poop on boating safety and laws. Tom gave us the skinny on the local regulations on area 4 and 7. You must go into these areas on your trolling motor only if you have a motor over 40 HP. Tom answered a lot of questions on boaitng laws and safety, and we really appreciate his support.
Banquet 2009
Our banquet took place on January 25th 2009. Dennis Hanley was presented with his trophy for Angler of the Year for 2008. Congratulations Dennis!
AJ Willequer won the coveted Sportsman of the Year Award. This award is given to the member who puts in his time to the club without concern, and goes beyond the call of duty to help the club grow and do good things in the community. AJ donated his time to just about every club function in 2008, and also found time to run for Central Director of The Florida Bass Federation.
Neal Mcollam won the Co-Angler of the Year award, and also finshed 5th in the final 2008 club standings.
Here's a bunch of the club members and their families at this years banquet.
Rick's Blog
The Florida Bass Federation Qualifier was held on the Harris Chain on June 22nd and 23rd. The Harris Chain Bassmasters represented well with 6 members receiving checks and finishing in the top 25. Dennis Hanley, Scott Pritt, Don Carroll, AJ Willequer, Bob Wood, and myself, picked up a few extra bucks. All members that fished qualified for the State Championship which will be held in October of 2009. How about congratulating Scott Wise and Miles Spangler at the next club meeting. Both fished in their first qualifier, and both made it to the State Championship. Great job guys!
2008 Big Bass Tournament
2009 Big Bass Tournament
The 2009 Big Bass Tournament will take place on September 12th 2009 at the Hickory Point Recreation Facility on State Road 19 in Tavares. This is an Open Tournament, so you do not have to be a member to participate. The tournament is a "one fish per boat" tournament, and we pay several places, so it is fun an competitive for all. We have a huge raffle and give away a trolling motor, and several rods and reels. The entry fee is $80 per boat, and the first 60 boats get T-Shirts. We assign boat numbers by the time the entry forms are received, so enter early. Below is a downloadable file that you can click on and print out.
The 2008 Big Bass Tournament was a huge success. We had 82 boats, and paid out $5120 for 6 places, and gave out thousands of dollars of raffle prizes including a 36 volt 109 thrust Motorguide trolling motor! You can't find a better tournament to fish for $80/team and free T-shirst and goody bags for the first 60 entries. Here are the winners:
1st Place Terry Free and Rick Danner 7.15 pounds $3000.00
2nd Place Robert Smigel and Allan Dickson 6.97 pounds $1000.00
3rd Place Jim Roach and Jim Brandt 5.74 pounds $400.00
4th Place Vern Kemp and Randy Hamrick 5.03 pounds $320.00
5th Place Tom Walsh 5.02 pounds $240.00
6th Place Greg Hawthorne and Jessie Graves 4.92 Pounds $160.00
2nd place winners Robert and Allan
1st place winners Terry Free and Rick Danner
Trolling Motor Winner
State Championship 2008
AJ Willequer Wins Florida Bass Federation State Championship!
Harris Chain Bassmaster member AJ Willequer won the coveted Florida Bass Federation State Championship on the Harris Chain of lakes on October 26th 2008. The Tournament had nearly 200 contestants from around the state, and our own member AJ Willequer, won decisively with a weight of 20.22 pounds. AJ will represent the Harris Chain Bassmasters at the Souther Regional Federation Tournament next summer on the state team. I also want to congratulate Don Carroll for his 12 place finish, and also making the State Team. Don and AJ will be representing Florida in the Southern Regional tournament on Lake Murray in Columbia SC.
Standings
2009 Angler of the Year Standings
1. Rick Osterholt 178
2. Scott Pritt 177
3. Dennis Hanley 142
4. AJ Willequer 142
5. Mike Hogan 138
6. Jeff Chastain 137
7. Bob Wood 135
8. Miles Spangler 134
9. Ed Goans 129
10. Jim Pearson 122
2009 Tournament Schedule Winner
January 18th Butler Chain Rick Osterholt 12.51 pounds
February 22th Monroe Tom Bates 11.52 pounds
March 15th Astor Scott Pritt 10.84 pounds
April 19th Toho Rick Osterholt 13.18 pounds
May 17th Johns Lake Scott Pritt 11.41 pounds
June 14th Harris Steve Galassi 12.50 pounds
July 19th Panasoffkee
August 9th Griffin
Sept. 19th/20th Crooked Lake
October 11th Palatka
November 15th Yale
December Harris
We Kids Casting Contest
Our club put on a We-Kids Casting Contest at Treadway Elementary School on 10-27-07. The We-Kids program is a sponsored event presented by the FLW Outdoors and Florida Bass Federation. I would like to thank The Cain Pole South Bait and Tackle, and the Harris Chain Bait and Tackle stores for their help and contributions.
